The Increase gives pro athletes chance to share stories of faith

A website growing in popularity with professional athletes is giving them an opportunity to talk about faith without censorship.

The Increase lets Christian athletes tell their stories the way they want, and mentor and minister to each other while engaging with fans in the context of faith.

“[Athletes] are increasingly being muzzled in the mass media in terms of talking about faith and sharing faith,” said Ken Hughes, spokesman for The Increase and Pro Athletes Outreach.

For example, athletes have told stories of being asked to change out of shirts with faith-based messages ahead of a press conference. Hughes couldn’t say who is asking athletes to wear something not related to faith or religion.

The Increase is an outlet for athletes to publish videos. Athletes become their own director for their messages of faith.

Videos on The Increase are intended to be used as a resource to anyone, explained Hughes.

The Increase has inspired athletes such as former Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck and former Tennessee Titans quarterback Jake Locker, originally from Ferndale.

Though he hasn’t done his own video, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson did star in a 26-minute video from The Increase, which included players from both teams in this year’s Super Bowl.

“He’s a God that completely loves and is compassionate,” Wilson said on the video. “I think that’s the biggest thing I’ve realized. I’ve had a lot of great things happen in my life, I’ve had some bad things happen in my life, and some ups and downs. Through it all, he’s still been the consistent God he says he is, and that is the biggest thing you continue to realize.”

The most powerful form of ministry is life-on-life ministry, said Hughes. “So, our hope is the videos can be used, basically, to encourage and edify anyone.”

There is also the hope the videos will be used in churches. Like athletes, pastors are people with cultural influence, Hughes said.

The goal of The Increase is to get professional athletes – and others in the public eye, eventually – to tell their story of the decrease of self, and increase of Christ in their life. The idea is from a verse in the Bible, John 3:30: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

The Increase is managed by the same people who run Pro Athletes Outreach. The Outreach began in 1971, with an objective to help athletes, coaches and families “maximize their platforms of influence, effectively communicate their faith in God through Jesus Christ, and strengthen their personal relationships, marriages, parenting, finances and faith,” according to its website.

The Increase grew from the realization that athletes can have an impact on culture, but don’t have the means to spread their beliefs. Since starting The Increase about four years ago, Hughes said there’s been a noticeable decline in the opportunities athletes are given to tell their stories through mass media.

Though the people at The Increase understand that watching a four-minute video is not going to “save” people, they hope it starts those who watch on the right path.

“The idea is to drive as much traffic to TheIncrease.org as possible so that the world is exposed to these stories and people are inspired,” Hughes said. “We hope it at least begins some people’s journey into the arms of Jesus.”

The website reads, “Your people will begin to watch the game differently; they’ll find themselves rooting for Jesus in the lives of individual players and the families they represent.”